Life Among The Dead (Book 3): A Bittersweet Victory (15 page)

Men in fatigues drop from the high cabin of
the lead truck. Their rifles are out and ready but aimed low. One
soldier approaches, his left hand raised in a sign of peace, while
two of his comrades take positions in the rear.

Gloria rolls down her window after the young
man gently knocks on the pane. “Ma’am, we’re taking all survivors
to Fort Eagle Rock.”

“We’re actually heading--”

The soldier shrugs. “We have our orders,
ma’am. No exceptions.”

The convoy becomes a little bigger as the two
deuce and a half trucks are added to the front and rear of the
procession. They head back the way they had just come, to Gabe’s
chagrin. Some of the others among the survivors consider it fate.
They feel safer with armed soldiers protecting them and figure
staying on a fortified military base may be better anyway.

Vida shares Gabe’s disappointment over the
interruption to their plans. She was looking forward to living a
slow, free existence on his farm over being cooped up on an army
base.

The soldiers said they had one stop to make
before getting them all to the fort. They need to rendezvous with
the rest of their squad that is travelling from the west to a town
called Poland Creek.

“Let’s just go home.” Marko sighs over the
radio. He and the cousins have been trolling the side roads for
fresh game with no luck.

Back on the main road, heading for their lair
well above the speed limit, Marko enters the narrow passage of rock
he’s sick of seeing. Just three days into the apocalypse and he’s
already bored, especially with only a pair of morons to talk to. He
weighs the pros and cons of traveling out of his comfort zone,
perhaps heading east or west, trying another state.

“Hey!” he says over the radio when he has to
slow. “How’d you fags get ahead of me?”

“We ain’t,” Biff says.

Marko finds himself right behind a small red
pickup that is almost identical to that of his partners. His plans
for a change of scenery are forgotten at the prospect of having
some fun, even if it’s fleeting and without reward. He speeds up
and passes the stranger, flying well out of sight within the chasm.
“All righty, boys, here’s the plan…”

Using the same strategy as with the previous
two assaults, Marko lies in wait ahead and tells his buddies to
engage from the rear. In the narrow passage that winds like a snake
made of tar, he expects their victim to be easy prey.

Gunshots pop and he knows it’s Jessie. He
doubts the lone person in the truck will risk returning fire.

“I’m coming back atcha,” Marko tells his team
after turning around. “Watch your fire.”

He blares his horn to encourage the driver to
give up, but he doesn’t slow. Marko is surprised when his
would-be-victim returns the gesture with a weak beep and speeds
up.

Sparks along the sheer rock walls from
Jessie’s warning shots do little to scare the stranger. The guy’s
windshield is fracturing from the bullets, yet he still doesn’t
give up. It’s a game of chicken, a test of nerves to see who will
back down, and Marko’s about to lose. The thrill of the chase
becomes fear, and Marko slams on his brakes and throws his truck
into reverse. He’s not only backing down, but backing up, as fast
as he can.

This game of cat and mouse is skewed, for the
mouse is fighting back. The tiny red truck rams into Marko’s front
end as he looks behind him in his retreat. A bullet cracks his
windshield, forcing him to pull off into a notch in the chasm.

Sweat drips from his forehead as he watches
Jessie and Biff’s trucks pass him by. His hands tremble as he grips
the wheel once more. He might have messed with the wrong guy, but
that doesn’t mean he’s going to give up. If anything, his resolve
hardens. “I’m gonna make you fucking pay!”

The three battling vehicles made it through
the chasm and speed along the tree-lined highway. Marko easily
catches up to them when they slow while taking a turn onto an
intersecting road. He has a bad feeling about this, but before he
can warn his allies over the radio it’s too late.

Their quarry stops abruptly, allowing Jessie
and Biff to ram into the truck’s rear end, and Marko in turn into
the back of his friends. The sudden drop in speed sends the trio of
road warriors flying forward in their cabs. They are stunned,
battered, and unable to move.

Their quarry shoots Jessie and Biff’s front
tires and then puts several rounds into Marko’s hood before heading
out of sight. This mouse gets away.

The streets of Poland Creek are littered with
bodies.

Their train of vehicles halts near a gas
station. The original Gary’s Gas and Go, if Vida is not mistaken.
Soldiers sweep the area in small groups of three. Mild skirmishes
farther off disturb the otherwise quiet town with short-lived
volleys of gunfire.

The camouflage-clad men and women give Vida
an uneasy feeling. She self-consciously tugs on her collar to cover
her bandage, but knows once she makes it to the base what lies
beneath will be hard to explain.

The travelers are told to vacate their rides,
but Vida isn’t so quick to exit. She tenses up, and it takes Gabe’s
warm hand on the small of her back to coax her out of the van.

“It’ll be all right,” he says in his usual
calm manner. “I promise.”

She takes a deep breath, as if she is about
to plunge into an unfathomable depth. She stays close to Gabe, her
rock, while watching the soldiers and wading into her uncertain
future.

A ding brings their attention to the market,
which is much larger than the one in Worchester. From the signage,
it has a wider assortment of food and a full deli counter. Two
soldiers struggle to pull a third figure from the store with a
rope. Once out in the lot, the larger of the pair holds a thrashing
woman to the ground. A sight that chills Vida’s spine, having been
on the receiving end of such treatment before.

The soldier’s accomplice, a pretty female
recruit armed with a fat roll of duct tape, hurries to secure the
captive’s wrists and ankles. She also orbits the girl’s head
several times, leaving a shroud of silver tape from her neck to her
nose before stepping back to admire her handiwork.

Only the girl’s eyes show above this
makeshift mask.

The female soldier smiles until she notices
she has an audience. Several shocked civilians stare at her, and
many of them are children.

“This looks bad, doesn’t it?” She laughs
nervously, handing off the depleted roll to her partner. “You see,
the scientist types back at the base want a living specimen. I
mean, she’s dead, but she wasn’t bitten. She killed herself, which
is great. Not that it’s good that she killed herself, just good for
us…”

Her partner leans close to her ear and
whispers, “Rash, let’s just get her loaded up.”

She agrees, obviously embarrassed by her
bungling explanation. Together they drag the dead girl to an olive
jeep with a matching plastic cover over the cab. The survivors
watch as the pair grunt and struggle to get the corpse into the
back seat. At every opportunity it writhes free of their grasps and
lunges at them. However they manage to get the specimen stowed, and
the one called Rash fastens her safety belt.

The male soldier walks to the refugees and
addresses them. “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Sergeant Lynton.
As soon as our men are done checking this town for survivors, we
will be heading to Fort Eagle Rock. During the wait, I ask you to
stay within this area. Use this time to grab whatever essentials
you need from your vehicles. You need to surrender all weapons now
and report any bites. Once we arrive at the Rock, you will undergo
a brief in-processing and be given quarter. Are there any
questions?”

Howard holds up a football he found on the
road when he exited his car. “I found this! Can I keep it, or is
it, like, evidence, or something?”

“Are there any intelligent questions?” Lynton
just ignores Howard as he looks at the others.

“Be nice, Zee,” Rash says, with a nudge to
her comrade’s ribs. “Yes, sir, you may keep the football.”

Howard orchestrates a small game of catch
among the survivors, and two soldiers with apparently nothing else
to do join in. Vida remains at Gabe’s side, and she presses against
him as hard as she can when she notices the male soldier is staring
at her. Lynton nods in Vida’s direction and whispers to his
partner.

Being the focus of a secret conversation is
never a good thing. In school it meant you were being singled out
for ridicule, or the subject of some lurid fascination. Now it
could mean death. Brad said that anyone bitten would be shot at the
gates of Eagle Rock, but the way the soldier is eyeing her she
fears it may be much sooner.
Just
another
body
, she thinks.

“Gabe…” she whispers, her voice
quivering.

“It’ll be all right,” he assures her.

Lynton wears a stoic expression as he looks
down upon Vida, while Rash smiles kindly and breaks the ice.
“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Vida.”

“Hi, Vida, my name is Sergeant Rashida
Steele. You can call me Rash if you like. Everyone does.”

Awkward silence passes between them. Vida has
no idea if she’s supposed to talk or not, and she has no idea what
to say at the moment. Before she can think of anything, Rash’s eyes
grow wide. “Oh my god! You zurvived!”

“Huh?”

“You zurvived the Zombie House!” She points
to Vida’s shirt then nudges her companion. “Zee, she Zurvived the
Zombie House!”

“I see that, Rash,” Lynton says, not sharing
her enthusiasm.

“Zee and I went to the Zombie House on
Halloween night. It was insane!” Rash continues. “He got beefed in
the first ten minutes…”

“I lasted longer than that,” Zee
corrects.

“So, out with it. Where were the keys?”

“Foyer,” Vida says quietly. “In the lost and
found.”

“Jesus! I knew it would be something simple
like that! Zee had me convinced the friggin’ things were in the
attic. There I was, all alone, with a dozen zombies below me. I had
to suicide out.”

Then Rash grows serious. She cocks her head
slightly to draw Vida away from the boys for some girl talk. Away
from the towering soldier and Gabe, they speak.

“A real one gotcha, huh?”

“No--I mean, yes I was bit. But, it wasn’t a
zombie. It was…” Vida attempts to explain, but Rash gently shushes
her.
They’ll
never
believe
that
one
of
their
own
did
it
,
she thinks.

“You know what I have to do, right?” Rash’s
words remain friendly, despite the meaning behind them.

Though she practically begged Brad to end her
suffering, take her out of this crazy world, she knows not all is
lost. She met Gabriel and his family. She witnessed true heroes in
action. Vida doesn’t wish to die anymore. Her sorrow is so deep she
can’t even shed a single tear for herself. No number of tears can
help her now. All she can do is accept it.

Gabe, on the other hand, doesn’t intend on
giving up so easily. He steps towards the tender meeting, though
the beefy Lynton bars his path with a single hand to his chest.

Despite the strong palm keeping him from
approaching, Gabe raises his voice, “Miss, I’m afraid I’ll have to
share the young lady’s fate as well.”

“You’re bit?” Lynton asks, quickly removing
his hand from the man’s chest.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Where?” Rash asks. The fact that the
gentleman shows no signs, especially in his demeanor, makes her
skeptical. Most folks who have been bitten look tense and worried.
They avoid being in the soldiers’s direct line of sight.

“As far as where, I’m not the sort of man to
show and tell. You’ll just have to trust me.” With Lynton’s hand
off of his chest, Gabriel is able to approach Vida. “If I can be
granted one request. This is my granddaughter…”

“Ok.” Rash raises an eyebrow at the Caucasian
man and the Latino girl. She lets him talk, thinking,
Who
am
I
to
question
what
makes
them
family
.

“My son and his wife adopted her when she was
less than a year old. I’ve grown to love her as if she were my own
blood. A few months ago, she discovered who her true parents were,
and where they are buried. Her last wish is to see their graves in
El Paso.”

Rash leaves the girl’s side to whisper to
Gabe, “She’ll never make it as far as El Paso.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But I promised
her that I would take her there, and I never break a promise.”

Realizing what Gabe is doing for her makes
Vida look at the ground, torn between tears and laughter. The man
may never break a promise, but he is certainly breaking the young
soldier’s heart.

“Rash, I don’t think…” Lynton says.

Rash wipes her eyes. “It’s my call, Zee. I’m
in charge of this one.”

The big soldier moves back a few steps to let
her handle the situation.

“You’re going to have to skirt around
Waterloo,” Rash says with a sniffle. “We heard the place is
lost.”

“Thank you so much!” Gabe says, and swiftly
escorts Vida to his son’s sedan before the truth emerges.

“What about Howard and Gloria?” Vida whispers
as Gabe opens her door for her.

“I assume they are in capable hands and will
be fine. They wanted to go to Eagle Rock anyway.” Gabe doesn’t
waste time taking stock of their remaining supplies. He just turns
the key.

###

“Who the hell are you supposed to be, Joe
Namath?” Gloria laughs as her husband gets ready to throw the
football.